Olivia - Five Months

Five months. Where has the time gone? I know it seemed so long in those first early weeks of no sleep, but everything has really flown by. I am torn between excitement for the next milestones and wanting to hold on to this stage. 

Weight: 14 pounds (27%)
Height: 25 1/2 inches (70%)

Sleep: We are doing much better with sleep this month. She goes down without a peep at 8 (she doesn't like to be rocked, anything, just throw her in bed) - and she is up for the day around 7:45. She wakes up most of the time around 3 for the paci (and I think a little hungry) then she wakes up again in the 4 o'clock hour to eat. She eats and goes right back down until the morning. This we can handle!

She's doing really well with naps. On days she goes to daycare, since she doesn't nap all day she comes home and takes a 3 - 3.5 hour nap - which is great for me getting work done in the afternoon. On days that she doesn't go to daycare she's up for 1.5 hours, naps for 1.5 hours. All of her naps recently have been in the swing - and our little escape artist is trying to get out of that. Although we have her strapped in, we figure its time to start transitioning her to the crib for naps. Happy 5 months Olivia! :) It's going to be a slow transition though, because I still have to get work done in the afternoons.

Eating: She's always been a champ eater. She now nurses at the 4 am feeding, and the rest of the day chooses bottles. Now that we are giving her so many bottles we can track how much she is eating -- she ate 32 ounces the other day! (It is all relative, but I'd say 25 is pretty average). She still eats at 4 am, 8am, 11am, 2pm, 5pm, 7:30-8 (just before bed). I don't see much of this changing until she starts solids. Then, maybe she'll drop the 4 am.

Best Moment of the Month: Dan says taking her on the swings for the first time. I have to go with the first time she really noticed Koda and started squealing with excitement for her dog. More on that later.

Parent of the Month Award: I'm not sure if it should go to me for this one:

Ya got any nuggets left?

You ate them all?!

I'll eat the box.

Or to Dan for this one:

Wine please.

So yummy.

Look what daddy gave me.

I am so happy.

Dan. Definitely Dan. 

OR should it go to both of us for birthing a child with such good taste? She's the one who grabbed these things out of our hands.

Milestones: All month she has been 'standing.' She needs our support for balance, but the strength in her legs is all her own. She doesn't have time for sitting. She doesn't have time for her bumbo. The bouncy seats are all now up in the attic. Chick wants to stand. She's gotta see things. We're in for it when she's mobile. She is not a lazy baby. No cuddling. No rocking. No sitting. 

Her hand eye coordination is getting much better. She's holding her own bottle most of the time. Many bottle brands make handle attachments which I know would help her so much, but we can't find them for our bottles. Apparently we can start the sippy cup transition soon, so we might just head that way with one with handles. 

She likes to carry things. I always give her a piece of mail to bring in. Or something light at the grocery store or Target to carry around. I mean, might as well make her useful. For five months, we've had to carry her .. she can start to pull her own weight around here. ;)

I don't know if you can call this a milestone but she started squealing and now screaming. The squeals were cute at first. Then, when she stopped getting the reaction she wanted, she started screaming (louder is always better). She has this proud look afterward. I took her to work and after a scream the whole cafeteria turned and looked at her. We need to stop this. 

Clothes / Diapers: She's still in 0-3 and 3-6 month clothes. She's been too long for 0-3 footed things for awhile, but if she has tall enough boots the pants still fit. I think we will be retiring all of those in the next month or so. We just got her some cute rompers for summer - I can't wait until it is warm enough for her to show off those chubby thighs!

Favorites: She is starting to love Sophie even more now that she has better coordination for chewing it. She LOVES Koda. Anytime she comes into a room, Olivia lights up and waves her hands in excitement.  She pets her and only grabs a fistful of fur sometimes. Koda is great with it. 

She loves her Vera Bradley bunny and sleeps with it during nap time. She loves to be outside. I usually say "wheee" when its windy (so she wouldn't cry with the cold) - and now I think she thinks she's going really fast when the wind hits her face. 

She loves praise. Anytime she is about to fuss, we just say "yay Olivia!" and clap and she gets such a proud look and smiles so big. She is definitely one for positive reinforcement.

Since she won't sit right now she isn't loving toys too much. No books.

Dan and I are loving her so much. She reaches for us when she wants us to pick her up. When she sneezes she lets out this little "hooo" at the end that is the cutest thing either one of us have heard. She laughs constantly and really is such a happy baby. We take her around everywhere - continue to see friends, have people over, etc. and she just goes with the flow (most of the time). 

More pictures, because I can never choose just 12 1.